Fantasy Golf Sleeper Report – 2017 BMW Championship

The Sleeper Report: Fantasy Golf Sleepers, Long Shots, and Undervalued Picks for the BMW Championship

BMW Championship 2017 Fantasy Sleeper Preview

We are just one week away from knowing the identities of the 30 men who will duke it out for the TOUR Championship and thus the title of FedExCup champion 2017.

After what feels like an eternity, the action gets back underway at the BMW Championship, and there’s plenty on the line for those ranked 1-70 in the FedExCup standings. Qualifying for East Lake is one thing, but hustling your way into contention for the big, fat winner’s check is quite another.

The Dell Technologies Championship feels like ages ago but for Justin Thomas – and Jordan Spieth, no doubt – it will feel like just yesterday. It was Thomas who landed his fifth title of the year, an incredible return, with Spieth agonizingly short of yet more silverware for his cabinet.

Justin Thomas of the United States waves to the crowd after making…

Justin Thomas of the United States waves to the crowd after making par on the 18th green to win the Dell Technologies Championship at TPC Boston on September 4, 2017 in Norton, Massachusetts. Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images

The players are in Illinois this week and head for the Conway Farms course at Lake Forest. It hosts the event on a rotational basis, and so we have to head back to 2015 for the last renewal which was won in convincing fashion by Jason Day; the Aussie strolling home by six shots from Daniel Berger after opening up with rounds of 61-63.

This is a scoring course, make no mistake. Day’s heroics in 2015 were a mere drop in the ocean compared to Jim Furyk’s efforts two years earlier. He was, at the time, the sixth entrant into the 59 Club after a staggering -12 in 2013.

Those low numbers are aided by the layout, which does not penalise wayward driving (the fairways are wider than normal) and instead acts as a shootout when conditions are favorable. At 7,200 yards for its par 71, neither bombers nor shorter hitters can be discounted.

Other than the wind, which could get up to 11 mph and faster this week, the course’s best defense are the Bentgrass greens, which are smaller than average and fast – up to 12 on the stimp. But really this could be a birdie-fest if the breeze does not stiffen.

The FedExCup events are tough to bet on; after all, the class acts generally take the spoils and those are at short prices with the sportsbooks. But, and here’s the thing, if this does turn into an easy scoring free-for-all then the playing field is leveled somewhat, and that gives some longer priced fancies a chance to shine.

[membership level=”0″]

BMW Championship Fantasy Sleeper Report

You must be a Premium Member to view our exclusive fantasy golf picks.

Already a member?  Sign in Here.

[/membership]

[membership level=”1,2,3″]

The BMW Championship Fantasy Sleeper Report

Mix and match these players with your usual rosters (or play them separately) to get the most out of your picks this week.

Patrick Cantlay – Vegas Odds 55/1 – It’s testament to Cantlay’s consistency that he is up to 41st in the FedExCup standings from just eleven starts this season.

Of course, that means he needs another good showing this week to book his place in the final 30 for East Lake, and that’s not beyond the pale for the 25-year-old.

He’s barely been out of form in 2017, but right now he is in the middle of another hot spell with T10 in the Northern Trust and T13 in the Dell Technologies Championship.

Cantlay is brilliant from tee to green and has pegged more than two-thirds of greens attempted this season, and so there’s every chance the young talent can fire his way into contention in Illinois.

Kevin Chappell – Vegas Odds 66/1 – With his place on the Presidents Cup confirmed, Chappell can relax and enjoy his golf this week – and who knows, that could be a recipe for success.

He’s been great in 2017, and has followed up his victory at the Texas Open with a trio of top-10s since – including a T6 in his penultimate start at the Northern Trust.

For a bomber, Chappell has got a deft touch around the greens and is excellent with iron in hand, ranking 30th for SG: Approach. He’s excellent at shooting threes and fours on Par 5s, and if he follows Day’s blueprint in 2015 of playing the longer holes in -11 then who knows how low he can go.

Zach Johnson – Vegas Odds 80/1 – If the wind does get up as expected this week then Zach Johnson could come into his own once again.

The king of the grind loves it when conditions get breezy and sticky, and he’s still playing the good golf that resulted in a run of T5 at the John Deere Classic, T14 at the British Open (including Friday’s best of 66), and second at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

A former winner at Conway Farms, we need plenty of abject weather to come in for Johnson to get into the mix, but he was in contention at a major just a matter of weeks ago and that bodes very well indeed.

Kevin Na – Vegas Odds 80/1 – There would be many jaws hitting the floor if Na can claim an unlikely victory this week, but history tells us that surprise results can occur when we least expect it.

He’s certainly playing well enough to win, anyway. A T4 at the Wyndham Championship has since been followed with T6 at the Dell Technologies, with nine of his last twelve rounds being in the 60s and four of those 67 or better.

The central philosophy of Na’s game is to play the Par 4s well – he ranks 10th for Par 4 Scoring Average – and if he does that at Conway Farms then he’s got every chance of success.

Charl Schwartzel – Vegas Odds 100/1 – We’ve spoken at length about how the best players in the world tend to have their wicked way in these FedExCup events, and while you wouldn’t necessarily place Schwartzel in that category he certainly isn’t far away as a former Masters champion.

The South African has since followed up with a win in the Valspar Championship last year, and that means he now has 15 victories to his name worldwide – a sign of a class act, we’re sure you’ll agree.

Ranking eighth on tour for Par 5 Birdie or Better Leaders, if Schwartzel can do the business there and avoid errors on the shorter holes then he can compile a low score. His lowest round in his last four starts came last time out on the Monday at the Dell Technologies, so confidence should be high.

[/membership]

Want more of this week’s fantasy predictions? Check out our full fantasy preview for the BMW Championship here.

Cover photo via Instagram